


This Isn't The Place

by Voidgazer



Category: Baldur's Gate
Genre: POV Original Character, Unreliable Narrator, original fiction cross
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:15:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27118081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Voidgazer/pseuds/Voidgazer
Summary: An otherworlder. An agent -- Nil finds herself in a place called Faerûn after a mission gone fubar. What's worse is that leech that got put in her eye. Ah. That's all I got for a summary. Stay awhile, yeah?
Relationships: Astarion (Baldur's Gate)/Original Female Character(s), Shadowheart (Baldur's Gate)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	1. .alarm

The tropical storm overhead made things tough. Communications had gone out, which means... a tough decision would need to be made. Everyone else was fine, more or less, they weren't as fucked up as she was. 

She had made her team escape leaving her there all alone. If this was how she was going to go then so be it. Between the large slash wound on her leg and the two bullet holes in her stomach. She wasn't going anywhere. 

The artifact and eradication of the island was more important. If she could make it there was a boat -- but she knew -- she'd probably pass out long before someone found her. 

Nil looked at the syringe. It would keep her adrenaline up enough to get to the boat but the blood loss would be substantial. She wrapped the leg cut as much as she could with the last bandage she had. 

Then she armed the device, ready to reduce the entirety of the compound into nothing but residue. Nil held pressure on the wound on her stomach with one hand and used the syringe with the other and tossed it away. 

A heat flash stopped in her in tracks as she hobbled away and she saw the bandage redden a bit more compared to a few moments ago. 

The sounds of the tropical weather reverberated throughout the tunnels and she finally made her way out and looked at her clock. She had twelve minutes. 

The worst that could happen was a premature eruption in which case, she'd be dead before she knew it. Turning the valve to open the bulkhead doors had even proved to be difficult. 

Nil flinched at the salty sea breeze suddenly coming and contact. It stung. She upholstered the gun, ready to shoot. The trees swayed heavily in the wind and some doors rattled. 

It was so populated before but now nothing remained. There was still the embers from burned buildings and gunshot ridden walls. Blood and sand mixed together in a canvas of carnage. 

The cultists had been ruthless in their attack back and they had to meet them with such savagery. 

She stumbled into the boat and was caught by someone. Her vision had suddenly gotten blurry enough to where she couldn't see too well. She had to squint to really see her surrounding. Nil couldn't tell if she was finally dying or it was the shock that had fully set in. 

The person, her teammate, moved to bandage her but she halted them. She dug into her own wound enough to aggravate the wound and cause more blood to start pooling. 

"D-Desperate times, right?" 

Her mind visualized the symbol as her finger drew it in blood. She checked her watch with the other hand for a moment, they had less than a minute left. Some forty seconds -- things were getting much heavier. 

"Engine, boat. Start. Go." She said, on the last parts of the arcane symbol. 

Her teammate scrabbled off -- and suddenly she felt the boat move. With the last bit of strength, she could conjured up enough energy to put out the single. She felt the initial tremor as purple hues spurt forth from the pool. 

And then? 

Nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The opening and character Nil, is from an original series (really only a chapbook) of mine that I have proof copied but I decided to write something akin to a novelization as a type of crossover into Baldur's Gate 3. Since the game is in Early Access. I'll take my time with this. If you decided to give me a chance, thank you!


	2. .grounding

She woke up in a certain amount of pain. But her mind was clearer, and so was her vision. Still, it was proving to be a bit hard to move. Nil gently grazed her finger across the wound and flinched. She still had to assess her wounds: She'd been shot once nearly in the pelvis -- the bullet missed flesh and got lodged into her phone -- which she had forgotten in that now crater that was a base.

The second round had pierced her. Which meant she needed to take them out before she succumbed to blood loss, and since it was a relatively low caliber. She'd reckoned there wasn't an exit wound. It was still burning hot from inflammation and lodged in her. And she had the taste of ocean water in her mouth, but she didn’t remember the boat sinking -- nor could she recall if anything happened to her teammate. Just that damned leech monstrosity that--

She groaned loudly, Nil had quite the phobia of anything parasite-based and that was the literal stuff of her nightmares. She felt sick, her stomach felt hot as if with poison coupled with the open lesion.

Coupled with that, the searing pain was nearly unpalatable. She had been bandaged but... she didn't remember how, that part was a little more than fuzzy. That wasn't important right now. Though bandaged, the clothes she was wearing were soiled with blood -- and movement in general had sent shockwaves of pain through her.

Her anxiety rose as she finally looked around to inspect her surroundings -- get an idea of where she was -- it was alien, so foreign. She bit at her lip in thought, not knowing where to go. Her boots squelched on the fleshy parts of the place. Tentacles seemed to just flutter about ominously and she hated it.

"Help me." A voice said it sounded something like a kids voice. Which was a little hard to accept considering the fact she looked like she was inside of a creature's stomach. Though there had been much fire and debris, it rocked every so often while she was inside of it.

How could she though? She could barely help herself in the state she was in. Helping whatever it was -- wasn’t something that she could do as much as she’d like to. In this environment, it was better to be safe than sorry for curiosity.

"The blue." It said. The blue? 

Her eyes glanced at her surroundings until she saw a blue mist. She was hesitant but anything was better than nothing -- Nil walked into it. Suddenly, she felt better -- her strength and energy were somewhat recovered but she felt a bit more invigorated than she was before. 

What now? How to proceed: thinking was a little hard to do, her thoughts were behind a frosted glass that blurred too much to decipher. Her headache was painful enough that she gave up the attempt.

"Help me." This time she knew where it was coming from. She briskly jogged towards what she'd considered a platform and pressed the button she'd figured that would take her up. She was genuinely surprised that it did but her frown was still heavy on her face.

She threw up a little in her mouth as she saw what it was -- a brain, somebody did brain surgery on someone, and up and left is what it seemed. The person on the operating table twitched a bit as the words whispered once more in her mind. It seemed to slightly penetrate her defenses and she -- she dry heaved.

Her mind was trying it's best to rationalize the surroundings before she had a panic attack. Her jaw tightened as she tried to avoid the stench. Nil was doing her best to not throw up, she already felt like a blanket in a brothel and she didn’t want to feel any worse.

"Help me. Enemies, enemies surrounding us." The voice said. 

"...Which are _you_?" 

She was afraid to ask.

"I am newborn." The brain wiggled. 

Nil had never felt more disgusted in her life. She felt a bit of acid in her mouth, and it was hard to swallow back down. She shook her head no, as she pressed the button to go back down -- uttering a single: "Sorry." 

If there were enemies around, she needed to find a weapon. Her eyes scanned the ground to spot a dead person. _How did I miss that?_ She picked up the sword, checked the weight of it. She quickly balanced it in her hand and gave it a light swing. It was light, not heavy at all. It felt weird -- she hadn't used a martial weapon in a while -- using her fists might not be optimal. Though…

Nil grabbed the gauntlets and vambrace from the deceased person and slipped them on over her gloves. It wasn't the best fit but it worked.

She turned to the left and breathed out. Rushing through the breach in the fleshy wall. A dragon swooped overhead -- _the fuck?_ \-- she realized how dire her situation was. They were going pretty fast in her opinion and it was a wonder how she didn’t fall off.

There was a gap up ahead. She hummed, realistically, she should essentially fly backward from jumping across but… she pursed her lips, with no other way than forward, she did a running jump across a gap and continued. Somewhere, at least she heard something familiar, the sounds of things aside from the abrasive wind. Vocal things.

“Abomination! _This is your end_!” The green lady said, her sword ready to cut her down at any moment's notice. 

New developments. So there were green people now? With pointy ears, too. She was going to refrain from making any serious comments until she was out of the situation. The moment she tried to speak, in her mind felt like a hammer was pounding away in her mind. She clutched the bridge of her nose to drown her uncomfortableness away. The other person did the same thing but their two fingers went to their temple. 

“My-- ugh, what is this?” She growled in confusion, “Hmph, you are no thrall. Vlaakith blesses me this day! Together we might survive.” 

She points behind her two the way inside of the place, “Imps block the path forward. You will assist me in destroying them -- we must reach the helm before we transform.”

“Transform? What!” Nil couldn’t quite believe what she was saying. Assuming she was telling the truth, no, even if it was false. She still needed to cooperate with her to get out. Also, _imps?!_

“We carry mind-flayer parasites. Unless we escape -- unless we are cleansed, we will be tainted and we can become twisted. Within days, we will become _ghaik_ , mind-flayers.”

This was all a little too much but since time was of the essence. She couldn’t take that chance, “Wait. What are you?”

"I am githyanki. Are you dumb?" It was a sincere question.

"No, lead on."

They were posted up by the breach. Nil went by to get the drop on one. The green-skinned lady went to work for the imp on the platform while Nil went towards the closest one. She swung the sword at the creature as if she was playing baseball -- she couldn't remember the correct way to cut something down with a longer blade but there was enough force that she cleaved the imp in half. 

A little too much force. She felt the bullet twist against her innards. She inhaled sharply and turned to the other imp, which was about to attack herself. Nil dropped the sword and dropped to her knees to blast the imp into dust. Then gasped for breath.

"You seem surprisingly adequate in battle. Now, to the helm" The woman appraised her. Nil nodded her head and picked the sword back up.

They both climbed the steps and another dragon swooping overhead, combined with her stepping into slick blood caused her to trip. 

"Gah! I feel like a _soiled_ blanket in a brothel." She muttered to herself, pulling herself up. 

"Quickly. We must go." 

"Okay, okay." Nil said. 

They went up more steps and towards the back. Her head rang a little as a voice told her she was needed at the helmet. She shook the voice away as she followed the _githyanki_. Whatever that meant. The other woman slashed through a type of membrane and they went forward. Thud. Then another one which was louder, she ran up to the pod to escape it to find a person inside. 

I was in something like that? She glanced over the pod. 

"No stragglers!" The githyanki said. Nil ignored her.

"Let me try something." Nil retorted, while she didn't have the strength and it obviously seemed to be powered by something. She doubted there was a cord of some kind she could just unplug. After that earlier blast and considering her wound, she couldn’t do much to attempt to actually lift it up. “I’m sorry. I can’t do anything to help you.”

It was possibly the most sincere thing she’d said since she woke up. “No, wait!” 

They pressed onward. It hurt a bit to just leave someone like that -- if she hadn’t been hurt before she probably could have pried the lid off or if she wasn’t as low on energy, she probably could have overloaded it to open. But she didn’t know much about how to possibly help.

There was another blue mist fleshy thing that she stepped into. It was the last time, she didn’t want to go into more things that seemed to somewhat refresh and heal her. Her muscles might grow back around the bullet and that wasn’t a fun thing to remove once it became ingrained, despite the fact that it would slowly be pushed out over time.

They ran into there and the githyanki stopped, causing Nil to follow and do the same. There was a slightly panicked hum, as Nil saw a red-skinned creature with horns. Fighting the squid thing. Two squid things, one of the red-skinned, which she will assume -- is a demon, got a chunk of his head bit off by a squid.

That one got attacked by a bunch of imps and was essentially beat down, and the other one standing did a type of force blast on the creature.

“Thrall. Connect the nerves on the transponder.” It told her. Nil looked at the githyanki.

“Go do it. I’ll cover you.” She told her.

“Right.” The enemy of my enemy is my friend and such.

The mind-flayer was already locked in combat with another demon. Both Nil and the githyanki went forward, the githyanki slashed down the imp with one swing and was able to get a hit -- albeit not a killing blow -- on another that went towards her. Nil ducked, and swung the sword using the momentum to roll. A decision that she immediately regretted towards the imp that was blocking her path.

She clenched her jaw through the pain of the stunt and used the moment to charge forward. Before an imp was able to swipe at her back, a crossbow that the githyanki had hit pulled the imp out and Nil knew she was in good hands. She was able to make it towards the transponder and she grabbed whichever two -- as she didn’t quite know which ones to connect. 

It had triggered something to happen.

Nil looked for somewhere to brace for impact as it was quickly coming down. She spotted an object flying towards her being sucked out the hole in the wall. Her hand stung as she quickly caught the small object that flew towards her. But her luck ran out as the ship rocked, causing her to fall out. She tried to hold onto the structure to no avail and started plummeting down below.

"Fuuuck!" She yelled out as she started free-falling. 

She tried to position her place in a way to stop herself. From likely dying -- “oh damn, I'm dumb.”

She used her own arcane -- though it felt boosted by something to stop her imminent flop with terminal velocity. And then she dropped down onto a sandy beach. 

Another beach. _By the Void!_

The sands were warm and dry against her hands as she felt the ground. She could kiss its coarseness and she laughed. Once in hilarity, and another in confusion... then she felt the cool tears. The adrenaline stopped and then she met with hard facts. 

She wasn't on the planet she was assigned to root the cultists out of. If it were a planet she was familiar with -- she wouldn't have been meeting with much terror and confusion. The dread left her, but everything left her wondering how. How? 

Nil should be back on the Terminus recovering from her wounds. Not here. Wherever here was. She had a few more doses left in the stimshot but she didn't feel like continuously poking needles in herself. 

But there was the alien ship: she'd breeze by sounds of battle on it. There were red-skinned things, green-skinned things. Dragons. Fleshy things. Brain things. And here was -- crying next to the smoldering wreckage of the alien ship. It wasn't her finest hour

She wiped her tears and stood up. Nil was an agent. She was better than this -- but all those times she'd never been warped to a place without gear. And! And -- exhale. She needed to stop herself before everything got worse. Her employers were very intelligent. Her cousin was smart enough to figure out something went wrong. 

Boss Lady was also -- she should have gotten that arcane signal. But that was on the other planet... 

She huffed. If there were flying ships, brain things, and all other things. There was definitely a way back, or straight to it. 

With a snap of her fingers, she tried to put out another beacon. It was very faint but nothing. There was way too much interference for that to work. That and she didn't have enough of that energy anymore. 

"Graced Void, I'm fucked!" 

She kicked a bucket, and it plopped into the sea. 

"Okay. Okay. I feel better now." She said quietly to herself, "You've been through worse but all that was planned. This is gonna be a proving. Yes. This is literally your job, but unplanned." 

Unfortunately. Now, she was without a weapon. She grabbed a stimshot, pressed it against her skin and her thumb pressed the button on it. The needle stabbed through her skin and injected a solution into her system that would keep her energized for now. Though she was encroaching on using it too much in a short time period. 

The syringe retreated back inside of it and she secured it on her. She still had her boot knife -- some soiled bandages, multitool, some carabiners, her watch was fine but might be useless -- except for tracking time in Terminus. Her pouch still had a pen and a few granola bars, crunched up now. Yes. Fucked, she was. 

Ordinarily, she wouldn't dare loot a corpse. But desperate times. She tried not to think of the dead people along the beach she was pilfering through. At first, it was one or two, but then there was a little more and next to fishing rods. 

Some of the bodies were a bit heavy, stiff -- others were lighter but still stiff. There were some with fishing rods still in their hand by a literal death grip. Most had a look of abject horror. Nil closed their eyes, it was the least she could do.

Her hand went rigid when she touched the bare skin of a corpse. A bit thankful that her gloves were still one -- it was the unmoving skin. The loss of inhales and exhales. Some were still warm; the other’s were also cold. As if long-since dead.

She was perhaps a bit late -- there likely could have been someone still alive. She supposed, in shock -- unconscious but alive. Though in that case there was still nothing she could have done without a trauma medic on standby. Nil wondered where Valery was.

She found a pouch -- a coin purse -- with what she assumed to be the local currency. She grabbed the pouch and linked it to her own with the carabiners. Then she continued searching, eventually finding a leather bag with some coin, and an apple. 

She tsked. 

Protocol be damned. 

Protocol was to leave not a single trace, just document and observe. Send out a beacon; abide time until help arrives. It was unfortunate, but due to specific things she had just experienced she was going to need to integrate herself in the local culture at some point to get help. If that she could happen to her -- then there must be people that can help.

The standard protocol was useless against a hostile entity and with hostile entities, and a different world entirely. She had to take everything case-by-case. To eat an apple without testing it properly? What to show and what to hide. 

Nil bit into the apple and nearly moaned. A different taste and smell invading her senses as she ate it than the last possible hour or so. She dropped the core on the ground and put the backpack on her shoulders. 

She needed more food. Her energy was so low expending so much energy, arcane and otherwise was guaranteed to make her body eat through her fat reserves and blood sugar. 

She wandered in a straight path on the beach until she heard noises. There were a lot of bodies littered about too -- far too fresh to bloat in the sun and reek of death. She did find another sword, which she thanked for its abundance. 

She walked up to the person. 

"Blasted door! I-What? Stop! Not another step or I'll..." 

The woman in question, with pointy ears, appraised her. Nil could feel a bit of relief from her. 

"I remember you. You're one that tried to free me, on the ship, well tried." She said, "At least you attempted." 

"Least I could do." Nil winces. 

The woman grimaces, "Did you feel that? You've got the same thing I do - in your head." 

She remembers now, the absolute anguish she felt when she realized she couldn't save the women. Who she'd now known was Shadowheart. Nil was relieved but saddened all at once. She puffed her cheeks and huffed. 

"You were on the ship too?" Nil said, "It sure picked up a lot of passengers." 

"Yes. And they put a tadpole in my eye too. I assume that's what caused our minds to... cross. But that's the least of our problems." She seemed all too pleased with herself for relying on it, in a cocky way, "These things are going to consume us from the inside and turn us into mind flayers. You and I need a healer." 

"A healer, huh?" 

"Yes. Finding one won't be easy in this wilderness. We'll need supplies. I'm hoping something of us might be behind this door... but I've barely made a dent in it so far." 

Nil assessed the building and her eyes scanned the area. It's a large building. "I'm sure there's another entrance around here." 

"I was thinking the same thing around the top of this cliff perhaps. Hopefully, there's no more of those creatures." She says the word with utter disgust, Nil doesn't blame her. 

Nil crossed her arms. "It'd be nice to have another hand in a fight..." 

"Or just company for our final moments." She finishes, "But you're right - whatever lies ahead will be a little less daunting with support. You can call me Shadowheart." 

If she was honest with herself. She found the woman's name to be ridiculous but at least it wasn't _nothing_. 

"I'm Nil." Nothing more to add to that.

"Lead the way."

Nil found it odd how accepting Shadowheart was and designating her in the forefront. She didn't know the way of the land, though land navigation wasn't necessarily hard for her.

"There's more of those brain things up ahead just to let you know, saw two of them scurry off right where we need to go."

"Good eye."

"I try."

She went through the wreck with Shadowheart in tow, killing a few of the brainy-tentacle things with haste. Kicking one far into the water as if she had punted a football through a goalpost.

"Really? Glad to see you are competent." Shadowheart told her. 

"Hmm. I try." Nil dully said. "Can you spot anything else around? I don't see anything."

"Nothing."

Nil hummed.

A part of the structure had nearly collapsed on them on the possible way out. So they diverted their path towards the opposite beach as it went a little way up the cliff. A little bit further away, she had seen someone and they spotted her, call out to her. 

"See if the way on the right is open, I'll check the left and see what this guy wants." Wiping the brain blood from her jacket -- she hoped it wouldn't smell too bad. 

"Okay. Don't die too fast." Shadowheart said. 

Said women went off to search for a path that wasn't obstructed. While she sighed to herself and went over to the white-haired elf -- as she presumed. 

"Oh. Finally come to grace me with your presence, there seems to be one of those brain things I cornered. There in the grass. You can kill it, can't you? Like you killed the others?" 

Nil quirked an eyebrow up, she remembered that brain thing that called out to her and turned to leave. "On second thought, you look like you can handle it yourself." 

"I was hoping for a kind soul. Well, not to worry." She heard him say before she was able to turn. A dagger was pointed to her neck and she was brought to the ground with him at her side. 

She didn't have the strength to retaliate instantly, and if she were to be murdered. It would have already happened. 

"Shh, not a word. Let's try to keep that lovely neck of yours in one piece, hmm?" He hushed her, she was a little ashamed of herself for how she felt in this position and felt her muscles tense slightly before having a stronger grip against his. "Now I saw you on the ship, didn't I? Nod." 

She remembered what Shadowheart said and opted to nod her head. 

"Splendid. And now you're going to tell me exactly what you and those tentacle freaks did to me." 

"Um. Hey, they took me prisoner -- same as you. Sides' think if I were one of them, I'd have impaled myself on your blade right now then to divulge." 

"Don't lie to me I-- augh." He kept his grip as he appeared to have a sudden migraine and she experienced something that wasn't quite her own. 

"What was that? What's going on?" He said in confusion, his face less feral, less angry, and more concerned. 

She used his confusion as a chance to slip away. She rolled away from his hold, shifted to her knees, and stood up -- making a quick break for where Shadowheart was. 

"Hold on! Wait!" Astarion yelled and ran after her. 

She was partway inside the ship before she was stopped by the elf. He gasped from breath -- "Wait, I saw into your mind. They took you, same as me. And to think I was ready to decorate the ground with your innards." 

"Shit aim for such a death -- You'd better have more to offer than 'apologies'." Nil huffed, finally turning towards him. 

"I'm out of wine and flowers, so I hope an introduction will suffice." 

"It's a start." She retorted. 

"My name's Astarion. I was in Baldur's Gate when those beasts snatched me." 

Nil nodded. 

"Strong and silent type, huh? So did you learn about any of these worms while wandering the ship." 

"I--" She rubbed her temple slightly, "Yes, unfortunately. They'll turn us into mind flayers." 

"Turn is into-- wha, haha." He couldn't believe his luck, "Of course it'll turn me into a monster. What else did I expect? Although it hasn't happened yet. We can find an expert - someone that can control these things - there might still be time." 

"Find a specialist? That's the plan." 

"By the by, where did you get material like this? The underclothes of your jacket are so... soft and warm." 

"Get your dirty hands out of my jacket." 

Astarion made a face as he slipped his hands out from her jacket. Nil didn't even notice that, it annoyed her. If that could happen so easy -- she was going to have to be ever vigilant of everything that happens next. 

"Anyways... now I'm hesitant to say this but you should travel with me. Our odds are better together." 

"You know, I was ready to go this alone, but maybe sticking together with the herd isn't such a bad idea." Astarion says to himself, "And anyone that can crash a mind slayer ship and walk away seems like a good person to know." 

"All right, I accept. Lead on." He finally says with a devilish grin -- wide enough to show off a few of his teeth. Double fanged. Was that normal around these parts? To which both of her eyebrows went up slightly upon noticing but she otherwise said nothing. 

"Okay then." Nil's hands drop to her sides, but she keeps one hand on the handle of her shortsword. 

"The other side collapsed, and I see you didn't die." Shadowheart said as she came back to meet her. 

Nil shrugs. "Okay. Gonna take a lot more than that."

"Noted." She heard Astarion say. Nil then sighed once more.

The group reaches the other part of the ship. That's further on the left path. The original formation there was now but a cave made of an alien carcass. Shouting alerted the other two and Nil paid them attention. 

At first, she thought they were digging out a survivor but then the closer she visage of a squid became more evident. Nil cracked her neck and marched forward. 

"Come on dig faster! Get her out of there." The person shouted, "Dig." 

Her? She didn't expect the squid to have a feature that signified a female. It was too alien for her to figure out. They didn’t seem the type but, she wasn’t going to judge despite that.

"Do you realise what you're trying to dig out from under there?" She voiced out loud. 

The man jumped from her sudden voice. They were too focused on getting the squid out that they didn't notice them approaching. Nor Astarion who slipped on the other side. 

"Where are we? There was fire... and the voice, oh the voice." The man sounded rattled by it all. 

Nil was intrigued, "What was this voice saying?" 

"It was... calling for help. It sounded just like my daughter. She's been dead for so long. Our boats wrecked from getting close to here. What do we do now?" 

"Do you know where we are?" 

"Wait. I can feel you -- Just like them, you're one of them!" 

"What? Are you blind?" 

"There's something in your head. Leave us be." 

"They made them into puppets." Shadowheart said as the group of fishers ran away. 

"Yeah. We should probably kill this one lying here so no more people get turned into puppets." 

"You know. I like the way you think." Astarion remarked, flashing a smile. "Do you want to do the honors?" 

Nil thought about what she could do. Her first few hours here and there had been nothing by annoyance due to this orange-eyed squid. Well, they did look more like octopuses but they weren't deserving of being called right in her eyes. 

She pursed her lips as she lifted her foot up and her heel came down on the creature's temple. A hard crack, then squish as mind flayer blood coated her boots. 

"Positively delicious." Astarion commented. 

"I would have drawn it out." Shadowheart said. 

Nil sighed as they pressed onward, wiping the silver blood from her boots on the creature's clothing. "Do we have the time to do that?"

She was expecting to have a conversation about the best way to kill a squid but here she was. Their combined frustration towards the situation was speaking out more than anything. 

"You do know they're more like an octopus, right?" An unknown voice said.

"Yeah but -- squid just has a better ring to it." Nil shrugged. "Wait -- Who?"

"Alive! Talking about how to kill Ithilid, that's good. You were lying in your own blood last I saw you, I'm Gale. Well met."

"Nil." She introduced herself. If he was indeed on the ship, at least, she thought someone would have helped her up. She wondered where that green skinned lady was -- speaking of helping, she did have Shadowheart. Thank the Void something went right in all that chaos. "So, you were on that ship too?"

Her voice was slightly accusatory but she held no ill will despite that. If Gale seemed insulted by that he made no telling emotion that he was.

"The very same. A traumatizing experience, if instructive one." Gale said.

"That's an understatement, if you're talking about the literal parasite."

"Yes the ocular penetration by an illithid tadpole which will leave our souls snuffed like strands of weave caught in dead magic." He explained to them, "Not to mention, you're staring at me like a Rashimi at a blackboard. You're no wizard, are you?"

Nil didn't immediately say anything. She was an Arcanist, a Psion… if that was close enough. But she needed to keep some things ultimately hidden. She didn't know how arcane systems worked around this place enough to accurately answer that.

"No." She curtly replied. "I'm not."

"That's a shame. We need a tempest, but our primary need is a healer. I take it you recall the insertion of the parasite?"

"Unfortunately."

"Are you aware after a period of excruciating gestation it'll turn us into mind flayers? A process known as ceremorphosis? It is to be avoided." He emphasized the avoid part of his sentence. "I assume you’re no accomplished healer or powerful cleric?"

"No, and no. Otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"We are all in a whole lot of trouble then. We need to find a healer and where can we expect to find one in this wilderness? We need to embark on a quest for a healer together."

"That's the plan." Nil said. "Feel free to join."

"Most excellent! Then without further ado, let's be off! Besides, it looks like you keep interesting company." His eyes looked towards Shadowheart, who seemed a bit annoyed by the sudden attention. "A woman with shadows for eyes as deep as the dark lake. A pleasure madam."

"Is it indeed? We'll see." Shadowheart snipped back.

It was a small, somewhat enclosed clearing that she saw the githyanki. They were in a cage that was hoisted up. There were two beings next to the cage talking hurriedly to themselves. Nil wasn't knowledgeable on the state of affairs in this place.

Neither did she have enough clues to guess and make inferences. She already had the wizard and the other two go investigate the stone building. The supplies weren't going to get themselves.

Nil listened to them talk. They said something about a Zorru, and were trying to decide what to do with the woman in the trap. If she were to be honest with herself, they all looked weird enough. Tea pot and the kettle.

The githyanki had spotted her but said nothing on her approach. Nil maneuvered around a bit to get the drop on them, there was no use in talking for now. It wasn't as if she needed to explicitly care about the place as a whole or keeping relations well.

Then again, she didn't have the motivation to just blatantly attack. She was out numbered, if she wasn't injured -- this wouldn't have been a problem. Nil stepped out into the clearing. Mindful to not show how in disarray she was despite the contrary.

"You know… " Nil voiced out. "You guys should leave her to me, I'm a professional -- Githyanki are dangerous!"

One went to run but the other had pulled them back. Before turning to Nil -- "Ha! You don't seem like much, you're working with it. Aren't you."

Nil sighed, "No. Though what you do next could make that statement true."

For a brief moment it was quiet between them. A split second that went as soon as one kicked up dirt as they rushed toward her. Nil clenched her jaw and ducked slightly enough to trip them to the ground, taking her dagger she pilfered with them.

The next one was slightly haphazard with their movements, enough for her to grab the fallen one's sword. A clang rang as she stopped a blow. Though they put up a slight challenge -- she couldn't really use the tripping trick again.

Though, she knocked them off balance once and then again. The second time, she feigned and the sword pierced through them. The weight of their body was heavy as her breath was a bit ragged. Nil watched as the life left their eyes and then let go of the weapon with a push. She pulled off a glove and shook some of the blood out of it and sighed, as she looked up at her possible companion.

  
“What?” She said, “I’m gonna get you down.”

Nil grimaced slightly as she pulled the glove back on and sure enough, there was still some blood but what could she do? She picked up a rock, charging her own arcane energy into it to give it just enough force to open the trap as it hit it.

“Real fast -- I helped you since you helped me, if you want to join the group feel free too. Otherwise…” Nil trailed off, “I’ll be--"

"There is a githyanki creche that you will help me find along with your companions." She said.

"Alright. Cool, so uh-- since we're going to be traveling together what do I call you? I'm Nil."

"Lae'Zael." The githyanki said, "You will assist me."

"This creche of yours -- they know how to get rid of the parasite, I'm assuming."

"Yes. However, when we find then I will be the one to approach otherwise -- you might die."

"Right." Nil said hesitantly, just a little. If reception was this bad in this place; just as bad as it was hinting from little clues. Then, well… she would have to tread carefully when it comes to interactions with unknowns. Everyone was an unknown. "-- My group shouldn't be too far off. Let's go meet them, we're about to go raid a place for supplies."

It didn't take them too long at all to catch up to Gale, Astarion and Shadowheart. The latter person immediately went on the defensive when she saw Lae'Zael.

"No. Not now, we can do this later." Nil interjected before something happened. She recognized the looks of two people about to possibly duke it out, and she didn't feel like dealing with that. Not right now, at least. Her meaningful conflict resolution skills were dried out.

"Agreed." Gale said.

Lae'Zael and Shadowheart frowned at each other but that was it. Thankfully. They needed every shot at finding a solution to the parasite problem that they could find. 

"What's the situation?"

"Bandits. They seem to be arguing amongst themselves."

"Why not get the drop on them then?" Nil entertained the idea. She knew that if she weren't hurt that bad. She could have snuck her way to the other side while they were focused on her begrudging companions. "Kill them, or not. Either one works for me."

Astarion was first to go attack. She barely noticed that he didn't stick around to hear the end of her sentence. Honestly, she was a little exasperated if she were to be honest with herself. Though he did exactly what she would have done which allowed for Lae'Zael and Gale to do a little tag-team and Shadowheart bashed someone in the head with her weapon.

They were almost a little _too_ eager. Frighteningly so, but at least they were on her side for now. Nil quickly snuffed the life of when in an almost anti-climactic way: the tip of her sword pierced the person's back but stopped at the spinal column.

She hammered the pommel of her sword to break through the person's spine and her sword exited their abdomen. She gripped the central ridge of the weapon from the front side, yanked her sword from the person and readied herself for the next two. Who seemed a bit threatened by the display of brutality.

After all, their friends' muscles and a bit of organs were now in display. Nil fought a wince that threatened to appear from the motion. She swiped her blade to get rid of the access blood.

It was almost unbelievable. She didn't have time to prepare, which meant she had to improvise. Between foolishly trying to catch debris falling at her and the vibration of an iron fiercely clashing with her own.

Then she used the sword in her good hand and kept her hand in a fist with the other one. She parried quick enough to knock the first person off balance, and quickly slice at the second person still standing. Deftly bringing them to their knees but not out of the game.

She raised her sword to block the first, and punched them in the face with her free hand. When she pulled back, she pivoted slightly and stepped away from a hit from the second one. This time she was able to grab that one by their armor and decked them in the nose a few times, causing them to drop their blade before shifting her focus to the first one. 

She switched it up a quick jab that cut through enough to make them stumble. Nil used that as her chance to go after the one who was still dazed on the ground. 

Nil picked their sword up from the ground and lunged it through the man trying to get up, once he noticed her attention was on him. Their own blade culled their life. The second, and nearly her final foe blocked the next attack but Astarion had shoved him straight into her sword.

Blood had seeped into her gloved hands, the thick substance feeling sticky against the palm of her hand yet it kept her grip all the firmer as she danced with another one. The blood of the previous three felt like it started to dull the blade.

Compartmentalization. The avoidance of mental discomfort and cognitive dissonance, though in her case it was a means to hate the fact that she enjoyed killing. The bandits body grew rigid against her blade as he fought to say something. The tip of it had sunken into stone as the bandit was pinned against it.

"Sch... seven." The man gurgled out, "Kill 'em." 

She watched with a frown as the body fully limp with her sword meeting the rock behind. It wasn't her first time -- far from it, the act got easier each time but the feelings surrounding it? She tried not to think about it. 

Nil moved her arm and in turned pulled the weapon out. She felt the weight of the body release from the sword as the bandit fell to the ground. Their death was quick, painless -- not drawn out. 

Seven. Kill 'em? She pondered, her eyes shift to the door that led down into what she presumed to be the fort. Kill them? _Oh_! 

"Now dead guy said there are seven more down below." She told her group as they finished off their own kills. There were more of them out there than she realized. All the exertion was starting to make that numbing shot wear off. This meant they needed to be fast with whatever was left down below. Or if not, she might have to sit out a battle.

With a total of nine bandits killed, seven more had to have meant their whole raiding party was down there and they were about to get raided. That and with all the swords, arrows, and bolts she needed to pilfer better armor. 

Preferably not from a corpse but... 

As they ventured a little more -- with every person she personally killed. Albeit, common but not often enough to warrant a look from a companion. They were doing the same thing she was. There were some bloodthirsty people here, and she wasn't the only one.

Astarion kept giving her glances -- 

"Darling. You're making killing an art." He told her, in a low whisper to where only she can hear. 

"Could you not, please." She retorted, the tone of her voice matching his. 

The hole and piece of debris that was hanging from a rope was noted as Nil gathered her breath. She was in a way, a little upset. More for the fact that some bandit was pushed straight into her blade. That was a move that -- if she wasn’t used to pushing and grappling people, would have likely made her completely drop her blade or had the person fall on her. 

"Do you have an idea?" Gale said.

Nil nodded once. "I do -- so, a couple of us can go through the hole. While the rest can route up behind -- the inside of here seems like it would otherwise be a one way shitshow. If we can consider one entrance down below on the beach, and the one that leads down: it's reasonable to say this place is big."

Surprisingly Lae'Zael and Shadowheart dropped down together along with Gale. Nil looked toward Astarion -- "Let's go."

They went down into the door and Astarion made a real nice play to get the person to open the door. Nil was stacked up to its side and as soon as they opened the door she plunged a dagger into them. Not bothering to pull it out.

Astarion hummed, which shifted into a low chuckle. "Eager are you?"

"Eager to rest..." Nil sighed out.

Luckily, there were only two other people in the room. They didn't notice them approaching. The two bandits were about to investigate the room their other companions dropped down into.

Astarion was just as quick to kill the unsuspecting people. It was odd -- he stalked them like a predator sneaking up on his prey. The ground was wet with blood in an instant. He stilled momentarily before continuing.

Nil didn't question it. Astarion and Nil's sudden appearance was enough to allow the others to attack.

Gale conjured a puddle of grease right in the middle of them and they slipped and fell into it. Astarion was quick to throw a bottle of fire into it to ignite it. Overall, a good plan. Lae'Zael had already made her way out and deftly avoided the fire -- she went to work cleaving at least two down.

Another spell was cast which put out the flames and Shadowheart went to town on a couple of them. It terrified her. Though at the same time. She averted her eyes. She watched as Astarion easily maneuvered around to snuff the life away of some bandits.

There was also a bit of smoke high in the area from the flames being extinguished by ice. All the meanwhile she didn't really have to lift a finger after killing the guy in the entrance. It was beautiful really, and quite what she was used to as squad leader.  
  


The place ended up being a temple, which they still looted regardless. Despite such urgency in things relating to the mind, they still needed supplies -- definitely-- Nil wondered if this was what was going to be her life? A series of looting and murdering. Between the spoils of battle and the temple, they picked the place as clean as they could.

Nil smelled the faintest hint of gas. Which was odd -- more so because it was something like... the smell of a gas stove left on but not ignited. That was something she'd grown used to growing up. It was a little bit troubling in a way -- she wanted to investigate. It was troubling but odd. 

The group was able to find a way to open the door to the crypt. There was a little freshness that seeped in from cracks in stone and fallen Earth. She resisted the urge to open the contents, so they could wait until it was fully secure. If there was a hidden way to open the door -- then no doubt traps would be lying in wait.

A frown was nestled on her face as she held her breath for a slight moment, the order was slightly stronger to her nose. She couldn't wait to get out of the crypt. The low-light, tightness, and cobwebs in every corner. She couldn't imagine any other reason why she'd delved in such a place on any other occasion. There was a pillar on the floor where the sunlight had shone through -- there was enough that grass had grown in the dirt surrounding it.

There was enough in the surrounding chests for loot. Two sets of very large doors, and only one of them opened. Nil touched the door, the material felt different than the one on the beach -- she could definitely force it open. Though at a later time perhaps, she had neither the strength nor _other_ energy available.

She noticed that Lae'Zael and Shadowheart were starting to bicker. Her mind screamed Worldstar but Nil could only part her lips to let out a breath. They really couldn't have waited until after they left the ruins? 

"I smell flammable gas nearby." Nil finally commented.

"Where there are traps and crypts: powerful magical artifacts may be nearby" Gale said. He seemed a bit excited at the prospect of finding an artifact. It wasn’t the joy that a child would have but more of a relieved tone. Nevertheless, Nil was surprised to hear that people just left objects of power lying around. It was weird -- her job was -- well that wasn’t important right now. 

The actual crypt room was actually quite large. Albeit still dark, multiple coffins lay in the room but the biggest one was more ornate than the rest. The centerpiece sarcophagus had vases around, the stone working of a person was very detailed. It was colder in this area than the rest of the ruins -- and there was a faint hint of the sea. Other than what some light reflected in the previous room, however, she couldn't see much unless she was close to it.

“On the ground.” Shadowheart said, “The gas could be coming from that.”

The people with pointy ears seemed unperturbed by the darkness. They must feel lucky, Nil had to be extra careful to not stub a toe.

Her eyes went to a circular space on the ground -- very different compared to the stone inlays. The odor was definitely stronger there compared to before. Looked like vents of some kind. With the centerpiece just right there in the middle, it reeked of a trap.

Though nothing could have prepared her to fight literal skeletons; nor could she have expected to speak to a literal skeleton. The skeleton was pretty talkative for something so... dead. She glanced at her companions -- who had some varying expressions but none of which said that she should be entirely alarmed. Besides -- if this is where she meets her death. ‘Oh well.’ She thinks.

The companions were a little less than amicable with each other but they looted the entirety of the place. The supplies found were good, beyond good, and she found a skeleton man who asked her a deep philosophical question. 

What is life worth to you? 

It's a question she thought of for a while. If she were a bit more idealistic she'd have said that every life is worth some value but now, it depends, each to be judged case-by-case with no bias. Which naturally meant she couldn't say so. 

Nil protected just as she was paid to seek. Though normally, it was the last resort option. Just as someone had weakly shot a small-caliber at her -- she was just as vicious when it came to killing them.

Maybe, in some way. It was a question that she needed to hear. Her mind rattled and was starting to feel dense. As if a deep fog ruined how quickly she was able to catch words and pictures; then transcribe them into thoughts and spoken feelings. An alarming fog that was starting to obscure how she was behaving to specific things.

It was too early to determine why it may be. There was that literal parasite that no one would shut up about. Nil tried to keep on and focus on -- wait, she was losing sight of the picture. A deep breath in, and another out. One, two. It was strange.

She found it odd how no one else thought a literal skeleton speaking was strange. She held in her surprise well once she released that no one else seemed particularly perturbed. And that frightened her, what else was going to be so incredulous in this world? It was starting to become a bit difficult to not react to the extremes.

There was going to be a fair bit of offload where they were going to make camp. By the last stretch, Nil had grown weary. She wasn't going to put another dose of adrenaline in her body until she'd rested plenty. And ate well enough.

They had pilfered enough supplies from both the place and both the bandits who were attempting to loot the place. Though they got cut short. Her brain quickly recalled the past days events -- it felt like her mind was starting to short circuit from the information overload.

They needed to make camp. Though if she was honest with herself. Her patience was wearing thin and each passing hour made her general agitation susceptible to nearly anything. If someone spoke in a tone that annoyed her -- anything.

Above all else. With whatever may come, she needed to be more clear-headed, and without any type of harebrained planning.

Nil was a little disappointed in herself but the low energy and blood sugar levels made her grumpy, and less inclined to resolve things peacefully. She didn't enjoy killing. Or at least, that's what she told herself at night to sleep better. 

Astarion got in the way of her precious sleep. She didn't feel like entertaining him; something about decapitations? She sort of agreed, then walked away. Too tired to string together a coherent sentence.

Though... she did enjoy helping more than anything. She had more than enough blood on her hands. She had hoped the next day, there wouldn't be much bloodshed. The bedroll was placed next to a rock placement. Sure, closer to the fire would be nice. But she'd used so much energy being close to a fire might send her into a fever. If she wasn't already feverish. She sighed as she placed herself on the mat and let sleep envelop her.  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a little more than rusty. I had to get this out of the way! A few parts of this had been a bit hard to write, but there were definitely areas that I enjoyed writing. That scene where Astarion shoves someone onto her blade? That -- that was unplanned.


	3. .fold

She woke up very sore but energized. Aware. While there was ole squiggly in her head, she still had another was another foreign object she needed to get out of her. Today was a good day: now she had the energy to get it out of her. Just remove it and patch it up. Little by little, she was gaining some of her humor back. She can 

A piece of leather rolled up into a small bundle was placed inside her mouth, and she bit at it to make sure it would prevent her from biting into her tongue or grinding her teeth together. She placed a roll of bandages on the stone surface before her, as she fiddled around the roll of leather with her tongue. 

Nil took in deep breaths, that were slightly obstructed by the leather, and glanced around. Everyone was still either asleep or meditating -- she gathered her scavenged medical kit and went towards the stone area that was a little more isolated. Her skin prickled at the coldness.

"Okay..." She said quietly to herself. Nil sat upright against the wall, reapplied the rolled leather in her mouth, and grabbed the sterilized pair of tweezers.

While she wasn't too slow, she also didn't just jab it in. Her muscles jumped and tensed at the foreign object digging inside her flesh. She could already feel the blood run down her stomach and pool somewhat at the hem of her pants before dropping onto the stone. The steel object felt a certain type of way against her skin -- she needed an actual medic but she supposed one of those couldn’t be found immediately.

Nil resisted the urge to squirm and pulled out a fragment. Quickly, she went back in to retrieve the others -- opting for her precious time to not be wasted on catching another breath, else she feared she wouldn't continue going through it. It would have been a loss of blood and tears. There was one more piece that she could tell was lodged in her.

In her pain, saliva had dribbled from the leather roll and onto her chin. She was already feeling faint. Dizzy, the stars somewhat swirling in her eyes but it was the final stretch. In foolish haste, she nicked it, making it dig in a little further. Her muscles tensed and she squirmed slightly with the tweezers still in her. 

Her teeth clenched down hard and she instead, continued to drag it out of her. There was immediate relief as the final fragment piece left her body. A rush of endorphins flooded her system. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and peeked out of one before blinking a couple of times. 

A single strand of hair was plucked from her head as she used it to tie it to a needle. Her fingers fumbled a few times since her hair tended to curl slightly but she was able to do it. She then started sewing the wound with haste. It hurt. Though it was less than the pain she'd previously experienced tenfold. Next, she tightly rolled the bandage on. It stung a little. It had previously been soaked by seawater -- and she only assumed that it dried with sea salt still clinging to it.

Nil lazily pulled out the leather roll and placed it down. Deciding on drinking a healing potion -- that they had pilfered from the ruins -- in hope that it would expedite the healing process a bit. Probably nothing instantaneously, but the pain had dulled considerably. Almost in a near-instant; despite the solution tasting awful. She wiped away the excess blood and pulled her shirt back on.

"Oh fuck that was rough." She said nearly breathless.

"What was rough? Are you having fun this early, you fox " She heard Astarion say, as he approached her.

"I--" She jumped. There was no use lying, well fully. "No! I had an object stuck in me from the crash. I had to pull it out. Nothing too serious." The crash could have easily indicated from the moment that the ship crashed -- which certainly wasn’t a lie. She didn’t have to elaborate on _which_ crash.

He was close. Uncomfortably close, she saw the subtle twitch of his nostril flare -- as if to smell and she nudged him back a bit with her hand. Getting a slight glimpse of two cuspids as he backed off in surprise. "And back up, you're a little too close."

"My mistake." He said, his eyebrows went up slightly before resting back at their normal position, "A relief though, I thought you were just.. lame. That would have been a pity."

It was yet another one of those backhanded compliments. Words to show that he was watching her. She narrowed her eyes, and started walking past him before turning to him:

"I gotta ask -- Am I still?"

"I suppose. You _aren't_ crippled anymore." Astarion replied. "There was something poetic about you manhandling them before ripping them apart while injured." An odd sense of mirth danced in his tone, Nil knew he was mocking her a bit -- though that was no harm done. She tapped at her chin, was she that transparent yesterday?

Nil's expression changed to one with a slight upturn on her lips as she snickered and went back to her spot. Her boots were still on and she wasn't going to forego the tactical pants. The boots -- well -- she wasn't going to ditch them anytime soon; they were still fine. Her shirt was just replaced with a dark-colored tunic. She started to put on some of the armor she had pilfered yesterday. She was surprised to see that potion had worked in full effect -- her mobility was perfectly fine without a single wince. 

Assuming that she’d get out of it all alive. She wondered if it was like Sanita -- it was worth taking it back to the lab to research how exactly it's working. It had some similar properties to sanita but that was it; somehow the one was used to just tasted better.

Over her shin was some standard plate mail, poleyn -- if she remembered the name, though it didn't reach her thighs. It stopped just short of her knees. Just perfect if she needed to kick someone in the stomach with added weight. She put on studded chest armor that had chainmail protected the more vulnerable bits such as her stomach. Something she quite needed -- yesterday’s combat was spent primarily evading and utilizing physical exertion rather than deflected.

Her choice of armor quickly became bits and pieces of the stuff of people that she had killed -- or looted. She wasn't going to throw on anything too heavy or restricting but she learned well enough and was becoming committed to blending in. She had done a fine enough job, that the only way someone was really going to notice something strange was if they inspected the finer details -- if they were nosy -- and so far, even in this _adventuring party_ that she’d been assembled into nobody has asked her anything.

Food. Food was next. She chewed on a spicy sausage and it was weird. Everything about it was weird. She didn't know what _was_ in it. Sure: back home, the sausage was usually a composite of an amalgam of meats but this? It was good but still, no one else seemed opposed to it. So neither did she, to blend in. It just tasted of uncertainty and despite being spicy there was a tinge of sweetness to it that she couldn’t recall. She ate the last of the dry, nutrient-rich cracker square that tasted faintly like blood and seawater... Now that she had time to think; heal and eat, the fog in her mind was less dense but still prevalent.

Nil looked over at Lae'Zael, who seemed ready to just get a move on. Standing next to her tent with her arms crossed -- as far as she’s noticed her. She seemed militant. Normally, she would say good but… was that good here? She didn’t know. Nil didn't even notice her getting ready -- though there wasn't really a getting ready with her. Lae'Zael slept in her armor. She admired the consistency with her demeanor towards them and watched in slight amusement as she sneered at Shadowheart from across the camp.

They disapproved of each other's presence but like-minded end goals and all. It was very amusing; almost cut at first but Nil couldn't take the cold war that was going on between the two of them. These were two conflicting people. Possibly differing ideologies. The only reason why Nil was vouching for Lae’Zael was simply that she was the reason why she was able to get out of the ship. Her mind _wanted_ to say that she was indebted to Lae’Zael but that wasn’t the truth. She got up and went to see what Gale was doing.

He was sorting through some books that they found at the abandoned temple. Most he was disinterested in, but there were a few that were noticeably more improved in looks than the rest of them. Less dusty, and dirty. She wondered what the chances were that she would be able to read them? Would the tadpole leeching her mind be akin to the Babel fish -- but also allow her to read in a script that she possibly wouldn’t understand. If not, there was another way of learning the written script that they’d use that was more intimate -- a little more, well, it was blatantly arcane-based. Though it worked. She didn’t know anyone of them enough at all for that.

"How are you, Gale?" Nil decided to take her chance with the wizard, he seemed to be friendly enough. At least he acted knowledgeable enough; that meant she could pick at his mind slyly to get information if she was good enough. Her mental faculties were okay.

"Sorting through this vast array of knowledge. Some are invaluable, others? We are better off bartering them for something more suited for us." He said.

"I can agree with that. Oh, did you find any objects of importance? You seemed a bit happy at the prospect back in the ruins." Nil inquired.

“Yes, in fact -- we’ve found several. Among those was a very powerful amulet that allows its user to speak to the dead. The weave is strong with that one.” Gale said.

Nil could infer that what he meant by weave -- must mean arcane, or magic. People in this place had relics commonplace that could allow them to speak with the dead? She found that hilarious, and troubling. Then wondered if they had anything that could specifically alter reality. Though she didn’t need any special artifact to do that. She was a budding psion after all. 

“Keep that if you wish.” She suggested, “I have no need for that.”

“Very well. I can surmise that even if we sold this; we would only get a fraction of its value.”

On second thought. Nil wasn’t sure if talking with him at that moment was a good idea. She was able to glean something from their short conversation. If it was any longer; if he asked about the contents of the book. Her pride didn’t want her to be outed as illiterate. Which was true; in this case of this place, but otherwise? She was far from it. Afraid to ask any questions -- in a way, Lae’Zael appeared to be in the same boat as her. What if Shadowheart reacted the same way to herself? Nil cleared the thought from her mind.

Nil thought back to the two-horned people; they might have been from a nearby camp. There was no one else nearby to witness her killing them. That had meant -- more information about their surrounding area, and that Zorru person. Lae’Zael definitely seemed interested in finding them. The one objective that they had now was finding this githyanki creche and the way East was mostly just coastline.

That was enough information to start figuring out their next movements. Now she just had to figure out who to bring along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is shorter than the last chapter. Hopefully, the next one will be out sooner!


End file.
